andre seldon

Looks like this is going to be my day. Apparently following classmate Darion Green-Warren and fellow deep bench cornerback George Johnson III out the door will be Andre Seldon, the former four-star mighty mite out of Belleville.

Officially In The Transfer Portal! Here’s some film from this fall. Dog on the loose, DMs are open. pic.twitter.com/24Ke6BzbiP

— Andre Seldon Jr (@AndreSeldonjr) January 5, 2022

Like those above, in two years Seldon was unable to get on the field at time when Michigan’s starters were getting torched by Ricky White. The lack of any mention of Michigan’s four-star recruit in 2020 while that was going on was an ominous sign.

The group at the top had a solid turnaround this season, especially with the emergence of DJ Turner II as a bona fide Dude, and recruiting efforts landed three highly touted prospects (to us at least) who could factor into the rotation quickly. Of those, Kody Jones seems like a slightly larger, though lower-ranked, version of Seldon. The nickel position they both could both man is also threatened by the equally deep safety class, particularly Zeke Berry, who’s got as much CB in him as safety. Seldon still has four years to be someone else’s fan favorite Blake Countess. The reports we did get about him were unanimous in praise for his personality, and the practice reel above shows some nice awareness in zone.

Seldon’s departure, probably unfairly, will of course get wrapped up in the drama around Belleville, the public power down the road at which Harbaugh’s program has had a rocky relationship in the past. That brouhaha culminated in 3.5* LB Jamari Buddin going to Penn State, but fences were reportedly mended since the hires of Ron Bellamy and Steve Clinkscale. Seldon’s younger brother, 2022 4* safety Myles Rowser was a Michigan commit from January 13, 2020 to June 2 of that year, but Michigan seemed to lose interest. Rowser later committed to Arkansas, then didn’t sign there as his recruiting star fell. Low-rated LB Aaron Alexander was a Michigan pledge from last June until early signing day last month; he too has yet to sign somewhere, along with several other FBS-level Belleville prospects this cycle.

Previously: The Story. Podcast 12.4A, 12.4B, 12.4C. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker.

Depth Chart

Well, crap. We're back.

There are kids in college who don't remember a point where cornerback was a bonafide problem for Michigan football. The last time Michigan gave more than one start to a guy who wasn't at least a fringe NFL player was 2014(!), when Raymon Taylor got passed midseason by a sophomore Jourdan Lewis. The only guys to go undrafted since, Channing Stribling and Lavert Hill, was second-team and first-team All Big Ten, respectively.

It's been a terrific run. And now it's under serious threat. After Ambry Thomas decided not to opt back in it's been scramble time. First there was a ton of talk about moving Dax Hill to corner. Reasonable! He's a five star. He can hack it. The biggest problem with that is that he is so dynamic that moving him to corner might reduce his impact.

Then Hill went back to safety and Sammy Faustin moved to corner. He might start.

Redshirt freshman Sammy Faustin has switched positions from safety to corner within “the last week" and is in the mix to start on Oct. 24 at Minnesota.

Slam that panic button.

[After THE JUMP: uhhhhhhh]

Last year I did a What I Learned post about the 2019 class after that set of recruiting profiles was completed; now that 2020 is done let's reprise. I've gone over every scrap of information and highlight video; I've even scouted a couple full games when information on a prospect was frustratingly thin, or used Adam and Dave's Future Blue Originals/Derivatives.

These are my takeaways.

It's a B+ class

There's a lot of consternation about the lack of truly top-end prospects in this class, and it's understandable. It's nice to have guys like Rashan Gary and Jabrill Peppers around. This class does not have a single composite top 100 prospect. 2019 had 3, including two five stars; 2021 has 3, including a five star. I don't think it says a whole lot other than it was a weird year.

On the other hand, there are almost literally no fliers. If JD Johnson had not been forced to retire, thus paving the way for Dan Villari to get a Signing Day offer, the lowest-ranked guy in the class would be #513 Kris Jenkins. That's just outside the 3.5* range we use to designate players who are high three stars pursued by a large number of mid-to-upper-level P5 teams.

The previous class, which ranked first amongst Big Ten teams, had seven guys ranked lower than Jenkins. Five of them were below 750th. The 2021 class also has some deep cuts. So while the 2020 class doesn't have much of a top end it is uncommonly deep.

This is something I said on Signing Day. Doing the profiles reinforced that take because various guys in the back half of the class jumped out as good bets. Jeffrey Persi is a Greg Frey tackle. Cornell Wheeler has Ron Bellamy travelling the state to yell at people about how good he is. Matt Hibner's composite ranking is held back by ESPN and Rivals, who missed his incredible fitness montage. Roman Wilson… yes, he is in the back half of this class. I know.

This isn't a class that's going to shift the paradigm against Ohio State but what does that even look like? If we judge it by the standards of other recent Michigan classes it's solid.

[After the JUMP: stocks up, down, and shruggie sections]